


here's to never growing up

by usoverlooked



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-22
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 04:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usoverlooked/pseuds/usoverlooked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which it's high school and they aren't friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	here's to never growing up

**Author's Note:**

> The forever unfinished high school au. Also, someone should have warned against the dangers of listening to Avril Lavigne when writing these seven because it gets me frustrated. But life's like this, you fall and you crawl... I'll stop.

"You're hanging out with Britta Perry?" Shirley scoffed at Jeff as she pulled her knitting needles out of her bag. Jeff rolled his eyes at the idea.

"I'm working on a group project, not going over to hers to pass a dooby around," Jeff corrected his friend. Shirley paused in her knitting to give Jeff a look and Jeff sighed. "C'mon, Shir, I'm not looking to waste my future, you don't need to drop me off the Future Business Leaders newsletter."

Shirley huffed at him, but let the point drop thankfully. A comfortable silence settled between the two as they waited for the class to start. The pair sat in their usual seats, towards the front, but near the windows. After a moment, Jeff noticed that Shirley was looking about the room as she knit. Her eyes landed on the empty desk two rows aside them and Jeff already knew what was coming.

"I suppose even Britta would be better than stringing along Annie," Shirley's needles clicked as she spoke, her tone disapproving. It was an old argument and Jeff didn't feel like indulging his friend. Instead, he pulled out his phone out and scrolled through it.

As if on cue, Annie Edison walked in. Her face lit up when she saw Jeff, who barely even noted the younger girl's appearance.

"Hi Jeff!" Her voice was higher than she would have liked and she bit her lip after speaking. He nodded at her without glancing up and her grin faded. Shirley tutted under her breath and Annie resisted the urge to glare at the girl before heading to her seat. Upon sitting, Annie meticulously arranged her belongings; pencil nearest her, highlighter on the edge of the desk and paper in the center.

Across the room, in the back corner, Abed Nadir shuffled papers across his desk. The neighboring desks were empty, leaving him marooned apart from his classmates. It bothered the sophomore boy little, although sometimes he wondered what exactly had sparked this distance. As he moved a paper on Whedon's methods of writing to the top of his stack, cheers bloomed from the other corner of the room.

Troy Barnes tossed something into the air and caught it in his mouth with ease, invoking more shouts from the group around him. The jocks sat along the edge of the room, nearly to the back. Troy, the ringleader in many aspects, was harmless enough. Despite what films had led Abed to conclude, Troy was friendly to most of the school's population and rarely rude. Others in his clan may have fit the stereotype but not Troy, which Abed appreciated. There was one thing he did that truly bothered Abed and as a blonde walked in, Abed's stomach clenched. Troy's eyes noticeably traced the girl's figure, despite the fact that she shrouded her face in messy hair and sunglasses. Whether or not she noticed, Abed could not tell. She pulled her bag towards her body as she stumbled down the aisle. With a mild smile at Abed, his friend flopped into a seat next to him.

"He checked you out again," Abed informed her quickly. She shrugged, the picture of nonchalance, but Abed knew that in the past - and assuredly still - it bothered her. She tugged off her sunglasses, tossing them on her desk, and rubbed a palm across her face tiredly. Abed quirked his head at her. "What's wrong?"

"Mother dearest feels that my attendance at school is... lacking. She wants me to join a club or something to revitalize my school spirit." As she spoke, she pulled her tangled hair back into a half-assed ponytail. Sighing, she concluded. "Beside that, I have to work with Jeffrey Asshat Winger on a project. All in all, solidly not my week."

Before Abed could comfort her, their teacher announced the start of class. There was a clatter outside and the door swung open. The class turned to stare, but it was merely fifth-year senior Pierce Hawthorne. The group groaned, annoyed by the mundane interruption. Pierce shoved a late pass at their teacher and settled in a desk.

"Now students," as class concluded, the teacher attempted to regain control of the class. They had broken into conversations on their own; Jeff and Shirley discussed a paper due in Spanish class, Annie studied for a test, Pierce tried to copy down notes, Troy tossed a hackeysack to a friend, Abed and Britta debated feminism in comic books. Their teacher paused before whistling, a silence settled over the group. "Students. Now, I've set up the groups for the final project, and yes, Miss Edison you must work in a group. I will post it on the board and you can look before you-"

The bell rang and chaos ascended, the teacher accepted the reaction. The students stopped by the board, barely pausing on their way to the next class, save a few students.

"Um, is this a mistake?" Annie's voice was shrill and the teacher merely pointed to the bottom of the list in response. In bold, capitalized letters read 'ABSOLUTELY NO TRADING OR COMPLAINING'. Annie's mouth opened and shut, a fish awoken out of the pet store and in some odd bowl.

Beside her, Britta dug her nails into the palms of her hands. Winger and Troy in a group was more than enough reason, in her mind, to skip her next class, not to mention the bible-thumping Shirley. She needed a mental health day.

"Wait, guys," Annie called and the majority of the crew stilled. "Um, shouldn't we set up a time and place to, y'know, work on this?"

"Actually, Annie," Jeff smiled and Annie chewed the inside of her lip. "Why don't you work on it on your own? You're definitely the smartest of this crew, no offense Nadir-" Abed shrugged, allowing the comment "-and it seems like you want to work alone. Best for everyone that way."

"I... I could-"

"Stop trying to smoothtalk your way out of this, Winger," Britta stabbed a finger in Jeff's chest to emphasis her point. "We all know Annie has a soft spot for you, don't abuse it."

"I don't have a soft spot for-"

"Guys," Troy was excited and bounded up to the group. "We are going to be the best group. I mean, Annie's like a genius, I'm awesome, everybody loves Jeff, Britta's like all those girls in chick movies and they always pass their assignments, Shirley can make us snacks-"

"Excuse me?" Britta and Shirley said as one, offended by each of their descriptions. Troy didn't even pause at the input.

"-Abed is kick ass at power point and Pierce has done this final like twice. We're golden," Troy held a hand out for a fist bump, but no one responded. His enthusiasm faded quickly.

"Thanks for that, Troy." Jeff said, breaking the awkward silence that followed. "So, I guess we're a group now."


End file.
